Hi. I am helping a writer do research for a book. Both of us are new to this process and it is a bit overwhelming! He hasn't started writing it yet but he has an estimate of how long it will be, page size, how many copies we'll print etc... We need to get an approximate price of what it would cost per book to print via offset printing (web fed most likely). Is there a way to get an idea of cost without me having to contact a lot of individual companies for quotes? One company I tried to contact wanted my home address, email, full name, and even title of the book! We're not far enough along yet that I want to give out all of that information but we need to have an idea of what this is going to cost before we get too far into this. When I finally did find a website that gave an "instant quote" it said $60 per book! I guess this quote was for a POD book but this price made no sense, especially since the book will retail for far less than that! I am sure that some blogs or websites for writers have discussed this but I'm having trouble finding them. If anyone can point me to a blog, website, etc... that has disucssed this, I would greatly appreciate it.

Below is our specs if any of you could give me an approximation of what this might cost.

Book Size -300 pages (book pages, not Microsoft Word pages)Page Size- Either 5.5 x 8, 7 x10, or 9x6Initial Number of Books Printed -5000 Paper Quality -Not sure about this yet but most likely will be of medium quality (not ultra cheap paper,not the most expensive....whatever is most appropriate for a non-fiction softcover book. I've still got to research the weights of paper used, etc...)

You seem to be putting the cart before the horse. Surely you need a manuscript before you can think of any kind of printing? My advice is to have your friend write the book, publish it through CreateSpace (it won't cost you a penny, apart from the cost of a physical proof copy), and take it from there. That way you will have a solid idea of number of pages, word count, etc. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.

Read samples of my Martian series (by Dorothy Piper) and two romances (by Joni Havel) on Smashwords.Hard copies of all are on Amazon.

Agree with OT 100%. Get it written, edited, and up as an ebook first - then not only will you have an idea of total pages, you'll have an idea of sales. No point spending money on printing if the projected sales (based on the ebook) won't support the cost.

"The trick of the fiction writer is the beautiful lie..." Thomas Fox Averill

Thanks Everybody! What you suggest makes sense. He really wanted to do a traditional book, as well as an e-book version, but putting up the e-book first is logical. He should have the manuscript written in about a month, since his research is nearly complete. We just wanted to go ahead and get an idea of what the traditional book would cost. I read that it could cost anywhere from $3-$10 a book, which doesn't narrow things down very much. To me that seems like such a wide price range that it's almost meaningless! I know it varies by which company you use, what paper you use, etc... but still would like to narrow it down a little more than that. Thanks again for your input. Doing the e-book first is a good idea and then we wouldn't have to worry about the printing costs unless or until the e-book is successful.

Maybe I'm missing something, but why order hundreds or thousands of copies? Many indie authors (like me) use print-on-demand printers to make print books as they are ordered so we don't have to risk buying thousands of books and possibly have them sitting in our garage forever. You can use CreateSpace to make your ppk or Ingram Spark to make your ppk and/or hard cover and not have to buy any copies. But if you do want to buy some copies, you can buy them from CS or IS for the printing cost plus shipping. For my 2 books, the ppk cost for me is about $3 per book plus shipping. Obviously, the longer the book, the more it will cost to make. Also, if you have color interior pages and detailed graphics/pics, that will cost more too. So don't go by my costs. Good luck!

Mikeyboy_esqproud author of: 1) Engaging College Students: A Fun and Edgy Guide for Professors2) 14 Steps to Self-Publishing a Bookhttp://www.engagingcollegestudents.com

If you are hoping to break into the traditional market, you shouldn't publish anything - even digitally - until you are sure you have a viable manuscript. That is why I recommended having one physical copy published through CreateSpace. Putting a copy out digitally greatly reduces your chances of winning an agent. Believe me, I speak from experience. Get the proof in your hands and weigh up your options. Then decide which route you want to take.

Read samples of my Martian series (by Dorothy Piper) and two romances (by Joni Havel) on Smashwords.Hard copies of all are on Amazon.

[quote="Oldtimer"]If you are hoping to break into the traditional market, you shouldn't publish anything - even digitally - until you are sure you have a viable manuscript. That is why I recommended having one physical copy published through CreateSpace. Putting a copy out digitally greatly reduces your chances of winning an agent. Believe me, I speak from experience. Get the proof in your hands and weigh up your options. Then decide which route you want to take.[/quote]

Oh yeah, if you want a trade publishing contract, you don't want to self-publish first - not unless you're positive you WILL make huge sales by self-publishing first. Very few people can realistically know that. I was assuming (wrong thing to do, I know ) that if you were looking at printing costs you were planning on self-publishing.

"The trick of the fiction writer is the beautiful lie..." Thomas Fox Averill

Thanks everybody for your feedback. Yes, we are going to self-publish the books. Reading back over one of my comments, I just realized that I used the term "traditional book" when I should have said "physical book or hard copy of a book". I was just trying to differentiate between a physical book versus e-book. Sorry, as I said, I'm new to the publishing world!

Mikeyboy_esq, the $3 per copy sounds like a great price. I know the price may vary some from ours but I appreciate the information. POD may be the way to go. There are certainly a lot of advantages to it and he definitely doesn't want to be stuck with a bunch of books that never sell!

Katie,Glad to hear your friend is considering POD. I think that is wise. If you have any questions on the actual steps to self-publishing a book, feel free to contact me directly via private message. There are LOTS of helpful books on the market on how to self-publish, including mine that is mentioned in my signature. Good luck to your friend. I hope his book is a big success!

Mikeyboy_esqproud author of: 1) Engaging College Students: A Fun and Edgy Guide for Professors2) 14 Steps to Self-Publishing a Bookhttp://www.engagingcollegestudents.com